


Comfortbly Numb

by starrypawz



Series: Sparks [7]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: F/M, Unresolved Romantic Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-27
Updated: 2016-02-27
Packaged: 2018-05-23 12:41:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6116806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrypawz/pseuds/starrypawz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kolto messes with your head</p>
            </blockquote>





	Comfortbly Numb

Pierce blinked, he didn’t quite seem ‘all there’. But he was… okay so that was the main thing, right? Tephernia sighed with relief. 

_He. Was. Okay.  
_

_He’s  a crewmate of course you’re worried about him You’d react the same if…_

She saw him try to sit up and wince, she placed a hand on his shoulder and went to speak

“You’re really pretty,” Pierce grinned at her. His voice didn’t sound… right. Of course it’d sound weaker she knew that much but usually he still had his wits about him. 

Enough to chuck a barb or two at her at any rate. 

“What?”  
He blinked again, “You a medic?” Tephernia noticed he seemed… sort of far away. “Look like someone I know.” 

She wanted to say ‘You know who I am’ but didn’t, she had a feeling if she did it wouldn’t get through to him right now.  “She’s really pretty. Not a medic.” There was a very long pause there, “Engineer,” “She sounds… nice,” He didn’t seem to acknowledge that she was talking to him. 

“Real smart,” His speech slurred a bit, “Smartest person… I know,” He chuckled, “Kinda grumpy, good way though.”  
“What are you on?” Not as if she was expecting to get an answer from him.    
“Annoy each other sometimes. But fun.” 

She’d seen him injured several times by this point, seen him old cold, heard him swearing up a storm, seen him in various states of bruised, bloody and potentially broken bones. 

“Trust her. Do anything for her  even give her the last ration bar,” Tephernia couldn’t quite make out the rest of what he was saying, he seemed to be babbling at that point, chuckling to himself, she could pick up a few words but they didn’t seem to string together right. 

But this was something else. She glanced at the monitor nearby, everything seemed okay so there was no need to call her father. She wasn’t sure if it was a long pause or if time just seemed to be moving slower but for a few moments all it was, was her, him, the steady rise and fall of his chest and the faint sound of the monitor. 

“Took… long time to realise.” His eyelids seemed to be growing heavier by the second, “Don’t want to be without her, and need to say…” His head dropped, “That… I…”  
Then he was out cold. 

Tephernia started for a second there, “Pierce…” She lent over him, he was still breathing, and… smiling? She placed her fingers to his neck, pulse. Slow but still strong and… 

She heard footsteps and Quinn stood beside her. 

“He just passed out.” Her voice sounded higher than she wanted. 

Quinn placed a hand on her shoulder, “To be expected, he needs to rest. And sometimes large doses of Kolto can have… interesting effects upon a person.”  
She sighed with relief. A gesture not unnoticed by Quinn as he squeezed her shoulder slightly. 

“He should be awake,” Quinn paused and she was sure her father was grimacing, “And back to his usual self within a few days,” Another squeeze on her shoulder, “Go and get some rest,” 

_It was just the Kolto.  
_

* * *

 

Pierce groaned, every part of him seemed to ache. That never got any easier. It was a weird ache it wasn’t the sensation of pain, the pain was there but dull and faraway and it made him feel heavy and light at the same time. 

He touched the frame of the cot _.  
_

_Cold. Metal._ _There_. 

This was far from the first time he’d been hit hard and he knew I wasn’t the last by a long shot. 

And he’d never get used to the feeling like he had cotton shoved in his mouth. He licked his lips for all the good it did. 

He knew better than to sit up otherwise that would just make things worse. 

He turned his head.  She was by that side, and he was glad it was her rather than Quinn.  
He knew he looked like crap but she was glad to see him.  
“Spike,” He managed. Reaching out to check she was actually there “How long was I out?”  
“Day and a half,” She touched his hand. Okay good she was actually there. 

_Stars above, my head.  
_

  
Pierce groaned, “Feel like a destroyer crashed into me,” He chuckled weakly, “Or I was on shore leave for a week,”  
“Do you remember anything?” She brushed the scarred side of his face and he caught her fingers gently, with some effort. 

He shrugged, “I remember Rayphara hauling my arse back here, everything else is fuzzy.”  
A sudden near-panic struck him, “Wait, _what_ did I do?”  
And then that’s where she could’ve come out with it, she could’ve just said _‘I think you were about to say ‘I love you’ but then you passed out._  
But she didn’t.  Instead.  
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” She smirked.  
“Shit,” Pierce lay his head back against the cot’s pillows, “Just tell me I didn’t crash to the floor, and take a med cart out”  
“No”  
“Did I try and slug anyone?”  
“No”  
“Did I puke?”  
“No”  
“Well there’s that then,” He looked at her again, “C’mon tell me”  
“Hmmm… No,”  
He took her hand, “Please?”  
Tephernia squeezed his hand. “ _I don’t know_ …”  
“C’mon Spike,” He was almost pouting, “ _Please_?”  
“Is that the best you can do?”  
“Hey give me a break, I just woke up!”  
She planted a kiss on his forehead, “Maybe I’ll tell you when you get your strength back,”  
“You are _mean_.”  
“You’re cute when you pout,”  
“You’re kicking a man when he’s down, that’s just not done,” He protested.  
She kissed him on the tip of his nose this time. 

Pierce groaned. He had a feeling he knew _exactly_ what he’d come out with. 

_Just the Kolto talking.  That’s it. That stuff messes with your head remember? Makes you say all sorts of weird shit.  Like when you were going on about polka dot rancors? Remember?_

  
Although what he was thinking of was far  removed  from Kolto induced rambles about polka dot rancors.  
“I’ll let you rest,” Tephernia smiled as she left the room.    
Pierce sighed and closed his eyes again. 

* * *

 

She stopped and lent against the wall for a moment. 

_Just the Kolto. He’d taken some heavy hits, probably half way to a concussion. You like him, you’ve sle-_

She shook her head.  


End file.
